Wait, how had it become 27? Why had it dropped so much all at once?
Something was wrong!
How could insulting his dad have made him feel good?
With the mindset of collecting questions she had gotten wrong, Su Mian tentatively asked Gu Yichen, "Um... why aren't you angry that I insulted your dad like that?"
A dark gleam flashed through Fang Nuonuo's eyes beside them.
Gu Yichen must have been furious. He was simply too well-mannered to lose his temper at a woman.
She came over and stood in front of Su Mian as if protecting her, pleading softly with Gu Yichen.
"Mr. Gu, Miss Su didn't mean it. She was just too impulsive. Please don't blame her."
[Wah, our goddess is so gentle!]
[She even protects Su Mian, who's always been unfriendly to her!]
[I'm crying my eyes out! Nuonuo! She isn't worth it!]
Su Mian pulled Fang Nuonuo aside.
Don't get in the way of me collecting my wrong answers!
Su Mian still had a very good attitude.
Although her mission progress kept rising and falling.
But working stiffs earning three thousand a month still had to put up with their bosses' temper.
And her job could earn her a billion. How could there be no difficulty at all?
She would treat these men like an exam.
Getting questions wrong didn't matter. She just had to correct them!
Su Mian gazed expectantly at Gu Yichen.
Gu Yuanqiu also looked curiously at her son.
After hesitating for a while, Gu Yichen looked at his mother.
"Actually, I wasn't angry. I've wanted to curse my dad out like that for a long time too."
"I kept urging Mom to put up with it because I hoped she could coax Dad into a divorce first and live an easier life of her own."
"But seeing Dad's attitude... there's no point in coaxing him anymore. We might as well take him head-on."
[So that's how it was. Little Gu really put a lot of thought into this!]
[Fine, I take back what I said when I cursed you out. You've got your head on straight after all.]
Fang Nuonuo's face turned a little pale.
Oh no, I took the wrong side!
Su Mian continued analyzing her wrong answers. "Since you don't favor your dad, why were you so sensitive when I mentioned live-in sons-in-law this morning?"
Gu Yichen thought back. "Oh, that wasn't because of the live-in son-in-law thing. I just thought you were a little too petty. You'd clearly won, yet you still said it was unfair... no, wait, when did I act sensitive?"
Su Mian said nothing.
But she had already figured out the reason for that wrong answer.
At least her gold-digger persona was still firmly in place.
If she kept advancing down this path, she would max it out sooner or later!
Seeing that the misunderstandings had all been cleared up, Gu Yuanqiu smiled at Su Mian. "Young lady, thank you for standing up for me."
Su Mian slipped into character in a second. "Rather than asking if I'm warm and well, send me a hefty sum."
Gu Yuanqiu didn't mind in the slightest. "All right. How much do you want? Give me your account number."
Su Mian thought about the initial treatment costs for the original owner's mother, after deducting the health insurance reimbursement...
Su Mian held up two fingers. "Twenty thousand!"
[My god, with that attitude, I thought you were going to ask for two hundred million.]
[Other people's idea of decadent luxury: swirling a glass of red wine on a cruise ship while gambling fifty million a round with a big shot. Su Mian's idea of decadent luxury: snacking on peanuts while playing Fight the Landlord for fifty cents a round.]
Gu Yuanqiu burst out laughing. "All right, give me your number. I'll transfer it right now."
Su Mian gave her number.
When she checked Gu Yichen's Disgust Points again, they were back at 45.
Wonderful!
She could ask for a little money and do her mission too. There really were such good things in this world!
Su Mian left, thoroughly satisfied.
Having taken the wrong side earlier, Fang Nuonuo knew she had offended Gu Yuanqiu and hurriedly found an excuse to slip away too.
Only the Gu mother and son remained.
Gu Yichen said helplessly, "Mom, she only said a few words, and you gave her twenty thousand. Your money is way too easy to earn!"
Gu Yuanqiu was all smiles. "A thousand gold pieces can't buy emotional value. She made me happy. That twenty thousand was more than worth it, okay?"
Gu Yichen had nothing to say to that.
Something suddenly occurred to Gu Yuanqiu. "Oh, right. You complained to me before about a gold-digger on the show who was set on marrying a rich man. You meant her, right?"
Gu Yichen said, "Yes."
Gu Yuanqiu was puzzled. "Then now that your identity has been exposed, why is she still barely paying you any attention?"
"That's because..." Gu Yichen stalled.
He, too, realized it made very little sense.
Gu Yuanqiu said, "Perhaps that young lady has some unavoidable reason for deliberately making herself seem detestable."
"I've met plenty of people. People like your dad, who have no ability themselves, have been steeped in material desires for years, and are insatiably greedy, all have greed in their eyes."
"But that young lady doesn't. Think carefully. You can find clues in the details."
Gu Yichen sank into thought.
As Su Mian walked, she glanced around to locate the other people from the production crew.
Because she wanted to find a chance to get her phone back.
She wanted to check whether the money had arrived and immediately transfer it to the original owner's mother if it had.
The sooner the illness was treated, the better.
She saw Cheng Qin nearby, and Fang Nuonuo was also heading this way.
Su Mian took the initiative to speak to Cheng Qin. "Hi~ I just heard a passerby say I'm trending again and again and again."
"All the trending posts are praising me!"
"Except for you, who knows how far I've left all the other female guests on the show behind in popularity! They've all become my negative comparison group!"
Cheng Qin was a little bewildered, unsure how to respond to this sudden topic.
Su Mian watched Fang Nuonuo out of the corner of her eye.
When she saw her turn pale and head somewhere less crowded, she knew there was a chance.
Su Mian immediately followed.
Sure enough! She saw Fang Nuonuo secretly take out her phone and go online to check the trending topics!
Su Mian walked up beside her and shouted, "Aha! You didn't hand in your phone at all!"
Fang Nuonuo's face turned as pale as if she had been dead for three days.
"Director! Host! You're being unfair! Why did everyone else hand theirs in, but she didn't?!"
[Su Mian is so annoying! Goddess Nuonuo managed to hide her phone through her own ability. Hide one yourself if you're so capable!]
[Fang Nuonuo is so annoying! Su Mian managed to expose her rule-breaking through her own ability. Expose someone yourself if you're so capable!]
[If Su Mian hid a phone, I wouldn't even curse her out. After all, her reputation was already a heap of ruins when she came on the show. There was nothing left to collapse! But a certain goddess's persona is crumbling pretty badly!]
Director Zhao let out a deep sigh!
Although he knew Fang Nuonuo was the one the boss wanted to promote, she really was impossible to prop up!
It was one thing that last night's fire had let Su Mian steal the spotlight.
They had given her special permission to use a phone, and she couldn't even keep it hidden properly!
Now the production team had to wipe her ass for her!
Fortunately, the host thought quickly under pressure and hurried over to get Fang Nuonuo out of trouble:
"Here's the thing. Some of our upcoming tasks require phones, so we've started returning them to the guests. We just haven't gotten to you yet."
The host hurriedly asked an assistant for Su Mian's phone.
"Miss Su, here, this is your phone. We'll return everyone's phones shortly."
Su Mian took her phone.
Duan Xuanyu suddenly appeared and held his hand out in front of the host. "I want my phone too."
"..." The host kept smiling. "Mr. Duan, you didn't hand in a phone..."
Afraid he would give himself away, Su Mian hurriedly signaled with her eyes for him to leave. "Go buy one. I saw phones for sale on the pedestrian street not far ahead."
The living allowance the production team provided wasn't restricted to buying food. It could be used to buy things to use too.
He had received three thousand in funds, easily enough for a low-end smartphone.
Duan Xuanyu immediately followed Su Mian.
Su Mian also wanted to get him a SIM card while they were at it.
Just as they were about to step into the service center, Su Mian suddenly realized something important!
She looked left, then right.
The pedestrian street was packed shoulder to shoulder, and the production crew hadn't caught up.
Su Mian quickly lifted the hem of Duan Xuanyu's top, slipped her hand underneath, and squeezed his abs...